The Truth About the Akatsuki
by GracefullPhantom
Summary: It's happening, the apocalypse, Armageddon, the end of the world... and it all starts with me. Someday I'll be dead and truthfully, I can't wait. Why oh why did it have to come to this? *How it Really Happened rewrite*
1. I've Had Better Days

**Chapter 1: I've had better days**

* * *

Sometimes in life, shit happens. We really, _really_, should except that. Especially if you're someone as air-headed and insane as me, where Murphy's law seems to thrive and where the sun is always below the horizon and I can never seem to catch my tail.

Even after all this time I've never truly been able to accept my fate, what's become of me, what I've done to create this. I've never been one to believe in karma or anything like that but as of right now it seemed that every last awful deed I did in this life and the last I'll pay for it for many more generations to come.

A door banged open and my eyes squinted at the halo of sunlight around the not-so-holy figure. I scoffed and turned my head away as he walked, tinkered some with the controls, and left to do other, better things.

It was a usual day for me today, chained up and having the power drained from my system every four to five hours. I sighed, how long have I been like this? How many weeks, no _years_ have passed since I've seen sunlight? When was the last time I saw my child? When was-

Hold on, I'm way ahead of myself, I can't start a memoir from my current predicament. No, I need to start all the way back, how long was it? let's see if I was eighteen and I'm my age now... then it was seven, no eight, years. Yes it's been eight years, not to mention the five I spent in Konoha. No, no I'm still getting ahead of myself. Let's go back, back to that fateful - was it a Tuesday? - day.

It as a rainy day. A very rainy day.

I was bored to death and all I could think about at the moment was what was for dinner. My parents were still at work and I was awfully hungry. I would've have made something, anything, except that the power was out, and I mean _way _out. It was pitch black in my house and there was not even a speck of sunlight to help me find my way safely down the stairs. I decided to stay put by the light of my slowly dying laptop and sip at my flat soda then to risk my life on a flight of darkened steps.

The rain was heavy and it hit the window like hail, hard and loud and altogether unpleasant. I was typing away at my homework that I had procrastinated on and blasting my music from my iPod onto a tiny but powerful portable speaker and while I was currently jamming out to my song I hadn't even noticed that my window was open just a pinch.

A particularly strong gust of wind blew, forcing my shades to blow out, the plastic end hitting me square in the forehead. Yes, my computer and desk faced my window, it really wasn't the smartest place to be in a thunderstorm.

Anyway the bottom rod hit me and it hurt but I was sure the most it would bring was a large bruise. I shook it off and attempted to close the window. When my fingers touched the metal frame the lighting, or perhaps God himself, decided I should be electrocuted today.

The bright light coming towards my body was so brilliant that my eyes were forced shut. My other hand created the circuit as it was still attached to my keyboard and before I knew it the world around me had disappeared and been replaced by darkness.

In the dark I found several bits indicating I was dreaming, like floating post-it notes and duct tape flower and the like. I was in the middle of placing a band-aid onto a wall when the strange world and the blackness began to fade and the sound of birds woke me up.

Of course when I finally came to, I had a slight headache and I was just pissed at the moment. Like any normal person, having a headache makes us a bit peeved, and currently I was grumpy cat, with a massive frown and half-lidded unamused eyes. I sat up and I saw tons of leafy trees around me. I titled my head to get a better look at the sky but because of the greenery I couldn't see any blue. I was outside and there was no rain, and just a minute ago it had been pouring wet hell all over the earth.

I looked around, confused, "Dear God where am I? I must be dreaming?" as soon as the words left my mouth I realized that there was no way in hell I would say something like that in a dream, "I also wouldn't be thinking so hard about this..."

I shut my mouth, I needed to stop talking to myself, I'll do that later when I have my bearings.

I rubbed the back of my neck and pulled a twig out of my hair. I looked up again and saw a couple of snapped branches which could be why I have a headache; I just fell out of a tree.

In truth, I did live near a trail that was surrounded by greenery such as this but it was confusing because I would've recognized it. Even if I didn't houses are dotted along the trail and the road was usually right next to it.

Since this dirt path was wider then the one I lived near, and it looked well worn by feet instead of bike tires, I knew I was somewhere foreign. How I got here I may never know.

I stood and brushed some of the dirt off of me. My yoga pants were black and comfortable and last I remember I was inside, therefore no socks because I don't like wearing socks on the carpet.

I didn't have my scandals either so that was awkward. I didn't like the feel of dirt on my bare feet, but I had to walk to get somewhere, so as uncomfortable as it may be I have to start somewhere.

I walked up a hill and just as I cleared it a massive fence/gate whatever you want to call it came into view.

"God damn," I whispered to myself. I walked to the huge as colored door as I attempted to keep dusting myself off.

I brushed some dirt from my hands on my pants and looked around. I couldn't see anyone in the immediate area so I just walked on past the gates. Maybe no one was around or they didn't care.

It only occurred to me now that it was nighttime, what a fail. I did one of those palm to face things, you know, a face palm, and moved on. I looked around somewhat cautiously because I really did not know where I was and I didn't want to run into someone who could kidnap me and leave me in a ditch to die. Especially not at this time of night.

Suddenly something ran passed me, whatever it was came and went with super speed or something because I didn't even notice until I was already on the ground.

Dazed, I sat up, "Hello? What the hell?" I asked the air, looking around confusedly.

Suddenly a masked person came up out of no where. I shrieked and hopped away. The mysterious person lifted up their mask and laughed at me and oh my God do you know who it was?

"Naruto?" For a moment I couldn't possible wonder as to why I was staring at a younger Naruto. My eyes squinted for a moment, trying to get a better look at his bright orange outfit.

He stopped laughing abruptly, "Yeah," he spat at me.

I was taken aback by his actions, "Uh hi."

He raised an eyebrow but then there was some yelling and he took of in a flash.

I was left staring at his dust cloud and my mind supplied to me that I dreaming. I was still comfortably on the ground when a second figure made himself known and when I looked up I froze. I found that I was staring into brown eyes longer then I should have been and there was only one name to fit this description; it was Iruka. He held out his hand to me, God damn he was cute in this realistic dream!

"I'm sorry are you okay Miss?"

I nodded numbly, "Yes, thanks for helping me," he nodded and left as fast as he had come. I was left in the dust once again for a moment before blinking and walking on. My brain couldn't fully comprehend what was going on, the only understanding I was able to come to was that this was a very realistic continuation of my previous dream.

The silence around me was filled with my noisy thoughts and I was seriously wondering whether I was dreaming or not. Something hitting my nose wrecked my traing of thought and I looked around in confusion. Another dot hit my forehead and soon the down pour began. I ran around in circles like an idiot as it came down harder, until finally finding a large enough tree to keep me dry.

Taking shelter under said tree with ridiculously large branches and leaves, I tried to figure out what the hell was going on. I sat at the base of the trunk, waiting for the rain to let up and some time later I realized it would be like this for awhile. A rustle in the leaves alerted me to the presence of another. I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked up at the culprit.

What do you know? It was Naruto.

"Hey kid," I said as my teeth chattered, "care to join me in the freezing cold?" I asked with a shiver.

He tilted his head towards me, "Hey don't you have a place to stay?"

"Nope," I said frankly, "I'm a bit… new here. I'll figure it out soon enough, if you give me some company it would be all the better."

"Mm, nah, why don't come with me, dattebayo!"

I half smiled, "You got a place?" I asked even though I knew the answer. How Naruto got to live in an apartment with no supervision whatsoever was beyond me it must be a son-of-the-Hokage-who-saved-fucking-Konoha-and-is-now-an-orphan thing.

I blinked up at him and he had a half smile on his face, "Sure," I shrugged and stood up, "lead the way traffic cone," he gave me a look and I smiled to reassure him that I didn't mean anything by it.

So this is all how it started, and this is just the beginning. How I met Naruto, how for the next four years I got to know everyone. Of course, I was older then all of them and I was more like a big sister since I sucked at ninja stuff, but we'll learn about that later.

The Akatsuki you ask? Well, they come into the equation much, much later. I know, you probably expected some instant angst in a bottle right? Well, if that's what you really want then go ahead and skip a few chapters see if I care.

We arrived at Naruto's small apartment and he handed me some towels to wrap around myself. He scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, I don't have any extra clothes for you, dattebayo."  
I shrugged and noticed a fireplace tucked in the corner, "You've done more then enough man, but I wouldn't mind if you lit a warm fire over there," I smiled at him and he tilted his head before smiling softly back.

I watched as he lit the wood all by himself, of course he used a match instead of attempting something as ridiculous as a fire style jutsu. I shook my head, my dream was getting to me.

Crouching next to the fire, I warmed my hands and dried my clothes. When the dampness was finally gone I settled on the couch, Naruto watching the whole time. From what I guessed it was around midnight, if the lines on his face were anything to go by, and we were both yawning profusely.

I saw the blond stand as he was about to go to bed when he looked at me lying on his couch, "How did you know my name?"

Smiling, I rolled over so my back was to him, "Maybe I'll answer in the morning, that is, if you want to talk to someone like me," and with that sleep claimed me.

The next day after my entrance failure, I found it strange waking up in the same room I had fallen asleep in. I had thought I was dreaming, even if it didn't seem relevant.

I yawned and stretched when suddenly breakfast was handed to me in a steaming cup.

"Here!" Naruto said with a bright smile, "I waited for you so you can eat."

"Thanks dude," I said just as my stomach let out a loud growl. I laughed it off and ate awkwardly with my chopsticks. Don't get me wrong I'm a natural when it comes to chopsticks; I just don't slurp up noodle very often.

Naruto produced a cup of his own and we ate in a somewhat awkward silence until Naruto finally piped up, "Uh lady I have to go to school. It was fun and all but you have to leave now…" I noticed he sounded a little sad and I gave him a smile reassuring that we'll meet again soon.

I smiled at him, "It's quite alright. Thanks for the help-" as I stood up he gripped my arm.

"Wait! I still want to know how you knew my name dattebayo!"

I blinked, "It's because... I know you're the holder of the nine-tails," his body stiffened as his hand fell from my arm. I squatted next to him, looking into his cerulean orbs, they were a lot bluer in real life, "but that doesn't matter. It's what in here that counts," I tapped him lightly on the chest, where his heart was. As I stood I got that feeling one only gets when they know they did something right without consequences.

Naruto looked up at me, half expecting me to flee from his presence, I could tell by the look in his eye.

I ruffled his hair before smiling and letting myself out.

When I turned around I saw an orange blur as he ran across the rooftops, the action made me grin.

As I walked I realized I had no where to go. Without anything to do the only thing I _could_ do was walk around, shoeless as well.

I looked dirty, and I was gross, maybe I should have waited until he left so I could at least pop in a quick shower, no that would've been rude of me.

The day wore on and by the time afternoon was upon us my stomach was growling like a cat that has just been deprived of catnip, and my entire being was about ninety-nine percent filthier then it was this morning.

While I continued to wander, I came across a small stand with red Japanese writing across curtains. The smell of ramen assaulted my senses and if I was in Naruto's world that could only mean one thing, I was standing in front of Ichiraku's. My mind blew up in all kinds of ways, from the smell, there was no way I was dreaming, which left one question, why was I here to begin with? Ignoring said question, I felt myself move towards the delicious smell of the ramen, I've had some good ramen in my life, I even got to go to live in Japan for vacation once, but I've never smelled anything such as what was currently in front of me.

My thoughts were interrupted by a soft elderly voice, "Can I get you anything Miss?"

I looked up into the kind face of the ramen guy, I felt bad for forgetting his name at the moment but I'm sure it would come to me later.

Sadly, I shook my head, "Ah sorry I was just enjoying the smell, sorry to bother you I'll be going now…"

"Hold on a minute! I can't have customers simply come in and smell my food without tasting any! Here, come in and have a bowl, first one's on the house," he gave me a wink and within a few moments a bowl full of ramen was on the table. My mouth began to water uncontrollably.

I shook my head, "Oh, no I couldn't-" my stomach betrayed me as it howled like a wolf on a full moon.

"I think the rest of you says otherwise, come on I don't mind," with less reluctance, I sat down. After one bite, I think I forgot to chew and soon it was gone, Naruto was right, Ichiraku's ramen is the best.

With that notion, speak of the devil and he shall appear, Naruto walked in talking very animatedly to tired looking Iruka.

"And anyway… hey look Sensei it's that lady I was talking about earlier!"

He pointed at me and I stared back, water half raised to my lips, I put the glass down and smiled, "Hey there kid."

Iruka looked slightly shocked yet slightly amused that I seemed so well off with the isolated Naruto, "You two know each other?" he asked before sliding into a seat next to me.

I nodded and Naruto came over and I ruffled his hair, "Yeah last night when it was raining, he found me and let me stay the night since I had no where else to go."

Iruka smiled but his eyes revealed that he was slightly peeved, "That was very kind of you Naruto, but you shouldn't let strangers into your home."

Naruto's shoulders sank, "I know but… but she knew my name Iruka-sensei! I've seen everyone in Konoha so I know she's not from around, and she's wearing different clothes from us!"

I was once again reminded how awful I must have looked and I unconsciously brushed off the dirt and smoothed down my greasy hair.

Iruka smiled again, damn it he was cute not going to lie here, he was adorable as fuck I literally wanted to squeeze him to mush… that was probably too much information.

Unfortunately he was one of my favorite yaoi pairs so I was a little sad to say no to my heart otherwise I probably would've tried to date him.

A bell chimed inside Ichiraku and I saw that it was nearing nine, I slid off the seat and waved to the duo, "It was nice to see you again Naruto but I should probably go now," I needed to find a nice secluded spot to sleep in.

"Wait Miss, do you have anywhere to stay?"

I shook my head, "At the moment no but it's alright I'll manage I only plan to be like this until I get my bearings properly."

"You could stay at my place if you'd like, I'd feel terrible for letting you sleep out on the streets granite they are very safe but still…"

So hot and so kind, God damn I was half wondering if he was gay, or if he hasn't had a girlfriend in a really long time.

Part of me was hoping it was the latter and the other half hoping for the former. I stared at him for a few moments before straightening my shirt. Looking at him I blinked a few times, "Are you sure?"

He nodded and smiled. I noticed a warmth in his eyes that I realized had been there even in the anime, no matter how brief his scene was, "It's no trouble."

Iruka and I sat, talking about whatever, while Naruto ate his fill of noodles. When the young lad was finally sated for the night we took him home and afterwords made a sharp turn towards another set of apartments, where Iruka lived.

We walked into his cozy little apartment, a few plants were on the patio and quite a few photos dotted the walls. Most of them I assumed to be former students of his when I saw the classroom with the rookie nine in it. I smiled at Naruto's beaming smile, Sasuke's angry glare, and Sakura's annoying fan girl look, at the time neither of them knowing yet that they'd make a three man squad.

Iruka let me shower and had left a fresh set of clothing for me to wear. It was a large shirt and comfortable loose pants that I could fully relax in. I walked out and saw Iruka marking papers and I stood next to him.

He finally noticed me after a few minutes and jumped, "Oh! You scared me sorry I was so focused I didn't see you there."

I smiled, "It's alright, by the way I wanted to say thanks for letting me stay here tonight. I'll try to find a way to repay you somehow."

He waved his hand in dismissal, "Oh it's no trouble I'm just glad you're alright I'd feel terrible if something had happened and I could have done something to prevent it."

I stuck out my hand, "Thanks anyway, name's Molly," it honestly wasn't but I've always liked the name Molly - even if it was a name for a drug - and if this was a world where no one knew me, it was way more fun to use a different name.

"Molly… that's an interesting name, I'm Iruka," he took my hand and shook it firmly and smiled before going back to marking.

"Would you like me to make you some coffee or something?" I asked.

"Um… no… well, sure actually could it be hot cocoa? I'm not a fan of coffee, I don't like the gritty taste it leaves sometimes, and I really don't like the bitterness... oh now I'm rambling, also help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you'd like."

Going into his tidy kitchen, I looked around for something that would help me make hot chocolate the only problem was that there wasn't any instant powder. Instead I used some of the chocolate I found stashed in the back of the cupboard, it was all white chocolate so I had absolutely no idea how it would taste but I made it anyway.

Even though I normally wouldn't go with the "go ahead and help yourself to anything" offer, I honestly couldn't resist what looked to be freshly made cookies.

The cookies were mint, and really good, when the chocolate was beginning to melt I put in some water to dilute the pure chocolate flavor and I found his spice rack and remembering an old recipe my mom used I made what I always considered to be the best hot cocoa ever.

As I brought the cup over to him I tried my hardest not to spill since as stated I can be quite clumsy sometimes.

Iruka stared at for a second before taking a sip, "Wow this is delicious! What's in it if I may ask?"

I nodded and sat in the chair that was close to his desk, "I could only find white chocolate, so I melted that and put in a little water along with a whole potluck of spices ."

He swirled the drink around before taking another sip, "It's very good thank you," Iruka continued to mark and sip his drink while I looked out the open window. The breeze was cool and it kept me comfortable since the room was so warm.

Soon I was dozing off and I found it was easier to just fall asleep on the chair rather than to fight it and so with one final blink of my eyes, I fell asleep right there, on Iruka's couch, in Iruka's house, in the village of Konohagakure.


	2. The First Year

**Chapter 2: The First Year**

* * *

I'll keep the next few years as highlighted as possible, nothing incredible really happened, I merely ate, slept and lived in Iruka's house for about two weeks before I felt bad and began cooking for him. After another three weeks I felt even worse and I then practically became his housewife, I tried to lighten the burden as much as possible so all he had to do is mark papers and by the time the third month was over I finally broke down and told him that I didn't know what to do.

"Iruka I'm sorry I feel so awkward staying here, I enjoy it really I do. I like the company but I'm not making any money to help you pay for rent and food and don't even try to argue with me Iruka you and I both know it's true, I just… it's just that I'm not a ninja and I'm pretty sure my credentials don't allow me to help with things like the academy and such and I'm not exactly a normal citizen…"

Iruka gave me a hug and patted my head gently, "It's alright Molly, I like your company you're welcome to stay here as long as you want and if you ever move out you're always welcome to come back."

I sniffed, "Thanks Ru-san," one day I had accidentally called him that when I was thinking of one of my favorite fan fictions and I was pretending to be Kakashi. I had walked into his office humming a random tune and wearing a dolphin apron I bought and said, "Dinner's ready Ru-kun."

He had just stared at me for a moment and after I blinked a couple of times I realized what I had just said, I apologized but he just laughed and stood. Ever since that incident, it's become a habit of mine.

"You're doing just fine. Hey, the Hokage sent a message bird just last night that she'll be able to meet with you today if you'd like," I felt a smile creep along the edges of my mouth and I nodded, feeling some of my usual confidence returning.

"Sounds a-okay to me," Iruka took me to the Hokage tower in which we had to wait a few hours before Tsunade was ready to see me, luckily it was a windy Saturday morning we were wasting.

I walked in and the Hokage gestured for me and Iruka to sit down, she smiled, "Hello I am the Hokage of Konoha it's a pleasure to meet you. So Iruka is this who you've been wanting me to meet?"

"Yes Tsunade-sama, her name is Molly and she's been living with me for the past three months and I have all the reason to believe she's here to stay permanently."

Tsunade clapped her hands together and smiled, she seemed much more cheery in real life then the way the anime portrays her, either that or I just haven't seen her drunk yet, "Wonderful, well then I'll just need to file a report on you. It should only take a couple of minutes, would you like this to be completely confidential between you and me or do you not mind if Iruka is here as well?"

I shook my head, "That's quite alright I'm sure there isn't something Iruka-san doesn't already know."

Tsunade chuckled and nodded, "Right then," she pulled out a form and the questions began, "Name?"

"Molly-" I had been so close to saying Hoshigaki that I literally had to bite my tongue, I really liked Kisame so I usually pretended that I had the same last name as him, "Hoshina," I finished since I already had the Hoshi out.

"You have a lovely name, birth date?"

"October second," soon I'd be nineteen, and I'd know when if I can remember to figure out what the date was.

Tsunade smiled and answered the question I had been thinking, "Oh well happy birthday Molly-san, what year were born?"

I pursed my lips, "I don't know, twenty years ago I guess. I was adopted so my parents never knew," she raised her eyebrows but she was still smiling anyway. I didn't know the year system here and I didn't want to mess it up by saying the 21st century.

"Alright," the questions didn't take more than a few minutes just like she said. It was mostly because I wasn't able to answer the majority of them, like chakra nature and things alike.

The final question was the one that surprised me, well not the question itself but the answer that was given, "Do you currently have a permanent place of residence?"

"No-"

"She'll be living with me from now on Tsunade-sama," Iruka answered. He said it so assuredly, so perfect, that it was little my choice to have no as an option. I could only give him a look when I turned towards him, my eyes saying you sure? Iruka turned to look at me as well and he gave a slight nod.

Finally we were done. I didn't bother bringing up the residence thing, I was happy staying with him and I know he felt likewise.

That same day when we got out of Tsunade's office Iruka took me out to dinner since it was my birthday.

At first it was just the two of us chatting and having fun. Iruka had just mentioned my age, saying he was surprised I was twenty years old, when a couple of his friends or maybe colleagues appeared.

I recognized both of them, but I pretended not to know either since we had never officially met yet.

"Hello Iruka-sensei!" Gai boomed as he slid into Iruka's side of the bench.

"Oh hello Gai-sensei, I was just taking my friend Molly out for her birthday."

I looked around him to see that the person who Gai had come with was slowly backing away, take a guess at who it was.

"What a wondrous occasion! Here let me get you something, Kakashi help me out for a second!" That's right, Kakashi, that crazy lightning bastard that I love because he's a total nutcase.

Gai and Kakashi suddenly disappeared and reappeared in what seemed to be the same second with a slice of chilled ice cream cake, my favorite.

"I do hope you like strawberry," up until now I always thought Gai was a little bonkers, scratch that he probably is, but now he's a cool kind of crazy.

Surprised, I took the plate from his hands, "Wow… thank you, where on earth did you get it?"

"Why the kitchen of course, now Iruka I'd like you to tell me why it's just you and this pretty young women alone, surely it's a birthday date correct? The wonders of love continue to spread their wings though you!" I wasn't going to ask how he was able to just poof into the kitchen, he probably scared the living daylights out of several waiters and waitresses, so instead I looked at Iruka for his reaction to Gai's question.

I remember Iruka had gone fifty shades of red on me at the moment as he tried to stutter out, "j-jus-j-j-just friends G-Gai…" it was adorable.

With a forkful of food in my mouth I could only smile at him, Kurenai walked in next with Asuma and the two of them noticed the commotion and came over.

Kurenai smiled, "Is that really true Iruka? You've never blushed so hard, and I've been hearing some rumors about a raven haired girl hanging around inside your home, could this be her?"

Personally, I didn't mind being Iruka's girlfriend, it was because he was so _fucking_ cute and we've spent so much time together, I really do like his personality and at the time Kisame and the Akatsuki were becoming a distant memory as I was finding myself falling more and more in love with Konoha.

Gai smiled, nearly blinding us with his teeth in the process, and uprooted Iruka from his seat and shoved him next to me. He then threw down Kurenai and Asuma and pulled up two more seats for him and Kakashi.

Asuma tried to leave, saying he felt rude for intruding but Kurenai held him down noticing the panic in Iruka's eyes begging them to stay so Gai wouldn't make it too much worse.

I gave Iruka a quick kiss on the cheek before finishing my magically appearing slice of cake and afterwords we sat there all drinking coffee – minus Iruka who had cocoa – while Gai ate. Kurenai and Asuma just came in for a quick warm up drink from the harsh winds outside, it was getting colder by the day and I thought I saw snow beginning to fall at some point.

When we were finally allowed to leave according to Gai, we had only walked five feet out the door when Iruka began apologizing profusely. I waved it off with the excuse of I know people who were stranger, which sadly enough was true.

We walked home and for the first time in awhile I was happy. I wasn't worrying about why I was here, I wasn't worried about what it would be like if I ever woke up back in my world, and I most certainly lost any thought of the Akatsuki. It's funny, back when I was a lonely otaku all I ever thought about night and day was the Akatsuki and how much I loved them, but at the moment it all seemed to fade to black.

Part of me wondered about my parents, and also if the time here was going to be the same there or if I just woke up in the exact same position on the exact same day as I was electrocuted.

I knew for sure that if I were to go back anytime soon, my thoughts would most likely completely shift to Konoha and the Akatsuki, as badass as they were, would be stored in the back of my mind. I could feel them slipping away each day and that old part of me was actually trying to make a desperate attempt to hold on to them.

The new girl I was becoming was actually surprised that I was able to adjust so quickly, then again for the longest time I was trying decipher my dream and why I was here. I was constantly worried about what was happening when one day I accidentally sliced my finger open with a cutting knife. Up until that moment I had never gotten hurt so when I felt the stinging pain and saw the blood I began to relax with the knowledge that I was alive, unfortunately the action sparked new questions that would only be answered with time and my own self awareness.

Back in my current reality we were walking home when it started to get really cold and I found myself curling into Iruka who was very warm at the moment.

When we got back we went to our separate rooms, I usually slept in the spare bedroom that Naruto occupies when he wanted somewhere to stay, which was where he currently was. Naruto has a spare key to Iruka's apartment and when I walked in I found the little kid passed out atop my sheets. Naruto knew I lived here and he knew I slept there, but he always said he didn't mind. He said I had a comforting smell.

So of course when I saw him there my instinct was to sleep on the couch. I went to ask Iruka for a spare blanket but he refused and offered me his bed instead. He was blushing, as well as half clothed since his shirt was off, when he offered so I just laughed and accepted.

The sheets smelled like wood and vinegar, a strange mix, but it was nice.

After that, Iruka decided to ask me out, it was sweet when he did it. It was actually about a week later, when I got a simple starter job as a file organizer at the academy. I had gotten a messenger bird, which had to peck me on the head for me to notice it, and in it was a summoning from the Hokage. Tsunade said she got me something to do for the time being so I wouldn't have to be so bored at home.

Anyway, while I was working I found a file that had one paper in it, the words were handwritten in what I knew to be Iruka's and it told me to go to his office and it read, "Come see me as soon as possible."

So I went to his office and all I found there was a red chrysanthemum in a vase, on it was a card and it didn't say anything, it was just a pass from the deans telling me I was let off early for the day and it told me to go the restaurant where Iruka and I went for my birthday some time back. When I arrived there it was nearing five and a waiter seated me in the back where I found a plate with two poached egg eyes and a bacon smile, Iruka knew that was my favorite dish to eat.

By now I was already freakishly impressed and suddenly Iruka slid into the seat across from me, "Hey," he looked nervous as hell but very cute. His scar was lit up by blush and his hair was down, I had always commented how it looked nice when he came out of the shower and went to bed. He was wearing regular clothing like usual when we go out but they were nice, almost equal to the visual quality of a tux nice.

I smiled, "Hey there, what's going on?"

Iruka scratched the back of his head before blurting out, "Would you… like to go out sometime?"

I reached across the table where his hand was innocently lying and squeezed it gently, "I would love to."

It was so sweet of Iruka to do that, and as I look back on that memory, I wished to God that I could have stayed there in that era; back when it was so simple to love someone who loves you back just as much. But we aren't there yet, I'm rambling let's move on.

Next up we had thanksgiving.

Iruka invited his friends over; since I worked with some of them it wasn't terribly awkward. He also invited the parents and children, by this time the students had graduated and were off to their own little squads. I saw Sakura there, along with Naruto who kept trying to talk to her but she was too busy glaring at Ino. In my old life, I didn't really like either of them, but I got to know them a little better before the year was over and they were very nice, but I still thought they were useless fan girls.

The kids all liked me, at the moment I was conversing with Shikamaru and Asuma. Shika didn't like a lot of people, but I was one of the few exceptions. He liked me because like Asuma I didn't treat him like a kid. Even though he was only twelve or thirteen whatever, I acted and talked with him as if he were my age or older, something he respected.

It was a nice evening, Iruka and I shared the burden of cooking and everything turned out perfectly.

During dinner I was seated between Iruka and Kurenai, Naruto was on Iruka's other side and Asuma on Kurenai's, across from me was Shikamaru and Ino and Choji. Choji liked my cooking a lot and would often pop by and stay over, I didn't mind, he was a nice kid. Ino was Iruka's supplier; Iruka would occasionally surprise me with a single flower, each flower varied. It was always the same vase and the same blue ribbon since he knew blue was my favorite color, but the flower was always different.

He says he wants me to tell him when he finds my favorite and so far he hasn't hit it. My favorite flower is sweet pea and so far I've gotten roses, lilies, daffodils and so on. I thought it was nice he did so much work for me.

Hinata was there with her cousin Neji. Her dad Hiashi didn't like me much but then again he didn't like anyone no exceptions. Hinata liked me quite well and I helped her grow a bit of a spine. I'm not saying she's weak or anything, I'm not her dad, but she's so shy. I always thought it was cute and I loved her innocence so much when I was watching the anime but when I met her I felt awkward and I don't do well with awkward. Neji and I weren't best friends or anything but we had a mutual understanding. That understanding being you do your thing and I'll do mine.

Even though Lee and Tenten weren't part of the rookie nine they still made an appearance because of Gai and his outlandish ways. Luckily Lee and Gai stuck close for the most part and discussed the weeks training regime. Tenten and I didn't know each other well but we started to click when she went into her weapons collection, she enjoyed talking about her various kunai and I enjoyed listening about it.

Shino and Kiba stuck close to Hinata, the way I saw it they were friends from the start. They may not have coerced in class but once they became a team they had no problem with each other which made me happy that at least one of the three teams was able to hit it off instantly.

I had a fear of bugs so for awhile I tried to avoid seeing Shino's abilities but other than that I loved him, not like I want to be with you love, I just thought he was cool as hell. I could tell Akamaru was bored just sitting on top of Kiba's head so I went over and gave him a pet to wake him up.

Kakashi was there as well with Naruto and Sakura and I was surprised that Sasuke showed up too. I would've liked to stop him from trying to get revenge on Itachi for what he did to the Uchiha clan but I already knew that I would never be able to gain enough influence on him to make him change his mind like that.

When everyone left we relaxed by the fire and drank some of my special hot cocoa I make more often than not these cold days. While we were just getting comfortable someone knocked on the door, I answered it and found Naruto standing there sheepishly in the sleet, "I forgot my key…"

We let him in and he snuggled in between us, we fell asleep like that and the next morning our necks were stiff as a board, but we woke with a warm fuzzy feeling.

After that it was only a few weeks before the snow came and along with it was Christmas.

Iruka helped me bake some cookies for the staff and kids and we threw yet another party the Eve before Christmas Eve since everyone was going to spend that night out with family.

By then we were the talk of the town, Iruka was known to mostly keep to himself, he had many friends and lots of people liked him not to mention the students looked up to him as a major role model but he's never really had a significant other, according to the staff members at the academy.

When it was Christmas Eve I marveled at the lights Iruka had put up before and how they shined in individual pockets of snow.

On that same night Iruka presented me with a present; it was a red yukata with a black obi and darker red roses for a pattern. Of course when I saw the black and red I immediately thought of the Akatsuki but soon it was dismissed along with every other thought about my past life.

The same part of me that would never die felt like I was losing who I had been but the other part of me felt like this is what's shaping me. These moments happening right now were what was making me who'll I'll be later on. It truly felt as if I was being reborn.

Iruka took me out to the center of Konoha where we came across stands of mochi and other various food items that smelled like heaven. When the clock struck midnight signaling the end of Christmas Eve and the start of Christmas day, fireworks went off and we kissed under the moonlight and stars. It was wonderful.

We spent the day at home, his gift had been the yukata and a necklace that would forever remain placed upon my neck. I had gotten him something he's been wanting for awhile now, even before we got together. I ended up buying him a hibachi grill and even though I didn't physically have the item I handed him the confirmation paper and he freaked out. We had to wait for it to be installed and he was ecstatic. He constantly asked me how much I had paid for it, I had nonchalantly brushed off the question with an "it's no big deal" even though I had used all my salary and then some that I had so far. The rest of the money was on loan but would be paid off within two weeks.

Iruka was so excited, he promised to make us something once it was installed. With a suddenly series expression, he went to his room and brought back once last box, "Well, now I don't feel like this is too over the top," he said as handed me the box.

When I tore off the colorful wrapping paper I was surprised to see air holes in the side but I was really shocked when the box started moving, it fell out of my hands and landing on the floor out popped a little puppy when the lid jerked off.

The wiggly little creature was a baby husky and he was making little yipping noises and was jumping and crawling all over me. Iruka knew how much I loved huskies and dogs that get big; I usually mentioned it when I saw average citizens walking their pets. He knew I was a rough housing kind of person and that's why I liked larger animals.

"Oh he's adorable!" I screamed, picking the puppy up and holding him up to my face which he began licking furiously.

"I know you're here all alone so I figured you'd want some company when I'm not here," I came home much earlier that Iruka, I only went for about four or five hours then I come home and it's not even everyday that I go since it's just filing.

"He's wonderful, what should we name him?"

"It's up to you Molly," I looked up and smiled at him standing above me. Iruka was the only one who decided to call me by my chosen name over anything else. For example Naruto just calls me sempai while my co-workers call me M-san or Mall-chan, or some other cute nickname. I didn't mind, all my life I've never had cool nicknames, but it was also refreshing when someone respects me enough to use my name, even if it wasn't technically my birth name.

"How about…" suddenly the dog leapt from my grasp and went nose first into my drink, he lapped at it thoroughly, enjoying the taste. I giggled and picked him up, "Silly pup you can't have hot cocoa," I wiped the chocolate from his face and decided right then, "Cocoa, let's name him Cocoa."

A few days later we had new years and from there things seemed to only get better.

When I landed in Konoha it was mid July, so really it hasn't even been a full year yet, yeah I know you thought I was going to stop at new years well you're wrong.

Not much happened until then though, just the normal holidays.

Well I guess I can say that Iruka finally found my favorite flower.

I was at home, it was Valentine's Day and honestly the thought had completely slipped my mind. Cocoa was running around like the hyper maniac he was, Naruto was over playing with him since there was no training at the moment, and Iruka was at work.

Naruto wanted to go for a walk and he wanted me to come with, so we went out and walked around town for awhile when I suddenly found myself alone. Naruto had Cocoa and I had no idea where he had run off to, he had just suddenly disappeared.

"Naruto?" I called out. I searched around but couldn't find him. Eventually I came across Sakura who smiled and told me he was at Ino's flower shop. Slightly peeved, I went over to the Yamanaka shop and I found Inoichi there instead. He handed me a card and told me that Naruto was looking for me at Ichiraku's so off I went.

I looked at the card and on it read, _Happy Valentine's Day Molly._

It was typed but as soon as I read it I had a feeling I knew who was making me run around all of Konoha, and it wasn't just Naruto.

Finally I found the traffic cone sitting at one of the seats but what I also noticed was the lack of Cocoa.

"Where's my dog?" I asked, Naruto shrugged and said he last saw him at training ground five. I high tailed it out of there in search of my puppy. I was really hoping this was part of the act otherwise I was probably going to kill Naruto.

When I got to the training ground there was a picnic all set up, Iruka was there with Cocoa in his lap and on the blanket was the flower he had been trying to find.

"Happy Valentine's Day," I smiled and sat down.

"You're so sweet... hey would you look at that?" I said, looking down at the sweet pea before leaning over to sniff it.

"What?"

"Sweet pea, it's my favorite," it was a nice day and everything felt like it was full of fuzz. Some days were so nice I don't even remember them I was so in the moment and yet at the same time I was completely hazed out.

After that all there was left was Fourth of July where we watched the fireworks and I had dango for the first time.

When I finally felt like I had my fill of normal, I decided it was time to get a little stronger.

It all happened when Iruka took a mission, the mission was designed for Chuunin or lower and it was supposed to be easy. At the time Iruka was one of the few Chuunin on hand who takes missions regularly and he was perfect for the mission since it was one of stealth and he was quite good and being quiet.

I was at home reading a book when someone knocked on the door. I opened it and revealed a random ANBU who was bleeding from various cuts but otherwise alright.

"Yes?" I asked somewhat suspicious since ANBU don't just show up at your doorstep without cause.

"Iruka… hospital," he had barely said the words before I was off. I was heading towards the Hokage tower and I ran in to demand where my Iruka was and Tsunade herself led me to where he was currently passed out.

Iruka's eyes were closed and the bandages that were holding him together were already soaked with what appeared to be blood.

"His chakra reserves have been severely depleted and he has a few cuts and bruises but he's otherwise okay he'll recover in no time."

"What happened?" I asked.

"The mission was to simply go to Kirigakure and retrieve the scroll that the Mizukage has been borrowing when he had a run-in with a pair of ninja. It was just Iruka at first and luckily a returning ANBU intercepted the fight but it was barely enough. We lost the scroll to whoever those ninja were and in turn got one of my finest Chuunin hurt."

I ground my teeth together and in the moment I realized I needed to do something. It's been almost a year and the idea that the people who attacked Iruka were a pair reminded me that soon the Akatsuki would start making their appearance. Soon they'd be at the head of the world if not for Naruto and the others, I needed to be apart of that force, I needed to help fight back.

I needed to protect the new life I was given and everyone in it, I needed to do something. I needed to be a ninja.


	3. The Second Year

**Chapter 3: The Second Year**

* * *

By the time Iruka was fully healed I had begun my training.

At first it was me all alone when Naruto found me one day at the training ground, punching a tree. Naruto of course, being the nicest dude ever, got Kakashi to help me train up to defend everyone I knew and cared about.

Between me and team seven I could tell he was beginning to wear and tear a bit so I offered to train by myself for awhile but Kakashi said it's best to have a tutor so guess who he recommended me to?

There's only one other guy that Kakashi trusts, at least I assume he trusts him, and no it wasn't Gai (thankfully).

Yes, I was now training under Yamato's wing.

When we met I was thoroughly disturbed when he examined me with his obscenely large almond shaped eyes. I thought the anime was just making it seem like they were big and scary but no his eyes were actually that large and if he stared at you long enough it felt like they were digging into your soul.

Luckily his personality made up for his appearance, he was quite friendly and was a good instructor and while some of the things he made me do was rather crazy, it helped a lot.

Yamato had me work on a lot of defense techniques. It was really hard for someone to start something when they're older rather than gradually teach them hence the purpose of the academy.

Training was a bitch to put it simply. Let's start with just defenses, like I said that's what Yamato had me do more than anything else but sometimes… he got a little insane with it.

For example, as we all know not everyone has his wood release technique; therefore he should hardly ever use something like growing a tree in front of me while I'm running at eighty miles an hour.

Sure most ninja would probably make a rock appear, or even a wall of mud, but still wood was hard to avoid when you make it as tall and thick as the Hokage tower. Every single time I had to run up the side and while I was halfway up he'd usually make it disappear which I could only counter with flailing my arms until I came close to the ground again.

My chakra nature was earth which was somewhat surprising to me because I had never been much of an earth chakra nature fan before. It's not that I didn't like earth it just wasn't my favorite, I've always liked water and wind over fire, earth, and lighting but that was the old me, this is the me who actually has abilities to use.

After every training session I'd go home, usually training lasted from six in the morning to around two in the afternoon, and I'd plop down on the couch for a few minutes before tiredly getting up to make food for Iruka and I. It still surprised me how I had gotten with him, all my Naruto-created life I was in love with the Akatsuki, every single member had a place in my heart. It was quite a change to be here in the regular part of the ninja world.

I had always been a fan of the bad guys, I couldn't even begin to understand why I hadn't gone fan girl on the Naruto world and run rampant until I caught the attention of the Akatsuki and by some miraculous means I'd gain the affections of the one whom I loved most and then we'd live happily ever after all the while winning the war I'd know all about because I was sick and tired of the good guys winning and fighting would be no problem because I would have all the power in the world, or at least enough to take down the fucking Jinchuriki and bring that fucking statue to life and we'd…

I took in a deep breath. Lately these days I've been going a little stir crazy. I've been thinking about my old life, the old me. I felt completely split in two and only now did it finally dawn on me that I was no longer alive in the world I once knew, I was somewhere else, someone else. I was reborn from my own ashes and somehow I had ended up here.

I decided that I wasn't going to try to understand how it happened or why, if I did it would probably just give me a massive headache, instead I decided to focus on who I really was.

The magic of what I believed to be a dream was fading more and more by the day and I was finally able to see everything with my natural clarity, all I needed was to breathe.

The Akatsuki had yet to make an official appearance, at least that's what I assumed. Although they can be stealthy I'm pretty sure I'd hear about them attacking Naruto, citizen or not something like that would be the gossip of the town for weeks.

Back to training, as I did my own variant of yoga, Yamato silently questioning me with his eyes the whole time wondering what the hell I was doing, I felt my hip pop and I fell over. Every morning I did yoga to stretch out my body and Yamato had no idea what I was doing. I've told him about it again and again but he just says all I really need to do is run around to warm up.

Yamato and I got along quite well, we were good friends by the time the first day was over and our friendship only increased while he trained me. Tsunade came by once every now and then to monitor my progress which she says was improving slightly with each visit. It always was a mystery to me how no one bothered to check my status or background history, or maybe they have but couldn't find me because I'm pretty sure my name doesn't exist in this world, real or fake.

During my training I have gotten stronger and thinner and I noticed I lost a bit of my chest, something that annoyed me. Back in my world I was a lazy teenager who did practically nothing and therefore was a little overweight as some teens are, but now most of me seemed to be missing, I guess it was just me shedding my old skin so to speak. I hadn't been that overweight, but sometimes you could tell I was different but other times you really couldn't.

Either way my baby fat was gone, so I didn't feel as much of a self-conscious chicken anymore. Even though I was older than most of the academy students, I was about the same height as them, in fact in the past year I've noticed Naruto was beginning to gain a small height difference on me, I knew Sasuke would for sure be much taller than I but as long as I can smack him around now it didn't really matter all that much.

I have to admit that I was pretty damn good at defense and stealth, attacking was a whole other story but nowadays Yamato has been doing hand to hand with me. Before it was all defense but that all changed when I finally earned my first mission.

We took on a D rank mission as all rookies do and it was supposed to be the two of us escorting a paranoid women home from a long day at the hot springs which were actually quite far up the mountain from Konoha.

About halfway back to the village three thieves or whatever they were jumped us. Yamato of course had the higher advantage what with once being a black ops member, he didn't know I knew that, but they targeted me thinking I was the old lady's daughter or something alike. Apparently the women belonged to a wealthy family and could hold for quite a ransom if the opportunity arose and of course they thought I was a part of it and not a ninja in training.

At the time using my chakra other than to run and stick myself to trees wasn't an option and the only thing I could do was to grab the lady and haul ass back to Konoha.

During that battle my arm was broken and my larynx slightly crushed due to them trying to subdue me and they attempted to knock me out by suffocation but when I couldn't breathe I ended up elbowing one of the guys in the balls, best move ever since no one in this world seems to wear cups.

When it was over Yamato took me to the hospital where I got my arm cast and the other cuts and bruises disinfected. Iruka had come running in as if he was on fire before checking me up and down and making absolute sure I was alright.

After that incident I finally began to learn how to actually fight, later on Yamato admitted he was a little afraid.

I was doing hand to hand with him and during the conversation I was having an internal argument as well as revelation.

Yamato grunted as I used my full force into the root of the punch, "Molly you're a great fighter."

"Thanks sensei, what brings that up now?"

He sent a kick which I ducked just in time to avoid a black eye, "Well it's about what happened a few weeks ago. I just wanted to… you know apologize. It's my fault for not teaching you how to fight with your abilities."

I shrugged and caught my punch and I had to spin with him in order to avoid getting my wrist broken, "I noticed that but I just thought that's how you decided to train me."

"It was at first, but after awhile I realized it wasn't the only reason why."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Then what was it?" I swung my leg around and managed to get on top of Yamato and make him kiss the ground.

He pushed me off and we took the fight to the trees, "I was a little scared Molly, it's not that I don't trust you, but you're not on records anywhere."

"So what's wrong with that? I'm special, besides you like me enough," I dodged a flurry of exploding kunai.

"That's exactly why I was scared; you could become a target for unknown enemies stronger than us, I thought that if I could avoid teaching you to fight you would be able to get out of a situation cleanly."

I shrugged and I found Yamato melded halfway into a tree before knocking him out of it, "That isn't always the case is it?" he hit the ground and I stood over him with a small smile on my face.

He shook his head and I helped him up, "Almost never is, I don't know a thing about you other than what you've told me, and I don't know who could be after you."

I smiled, "It's alright, now let's keep going I feel pumped today!" a lot of the time I used my old American slang and sometimes my ghetto would come out and I would get totally crazy stares but I didn't care it's just how I talked sometimes. I mean trust me when I say I'm all white girl, I was like 'last of the American girl's white, I _did_ put my makeup on like graffiti, and I was crazy, but man I was who I was so it didn't matter much to anyone.

After training that day I went home and while I was in bed looking at the ceiling something occurred to me. Like I've stated many times I loved the Akatsuki, and also as I've said I've begun to split down the middle, I was finding myself more and more divided each day and finally all the little things were beginning to add up. I realized that day where I stood.

Maybe I had a mental illness I'll never know, but I know for sure that at the exact moment I stood for Konoha and I was going to use every fiber of my being to stop the Akatsuki. Unfortunately the other part of me, maybe I grew a second head, protested so strongly that I almost gave up and went to go search for my red clouds. I don't know what it was that was happening inside me, I couldn't just let the Akatsuki go and I couldn't understand why. I thought that maybe it was because I needed some fabric of my old life to know that at some point I was someone else. I think what I really needed was to go home.

My homesick bug finally kicked in and I ended up crying for a good long time, Iruka heard me and came in to comfort me, when I had finally calmed down he stayed with me because I wasn't sure if I could sleep alone. I was beginning to fear the old me had never existed yet I knew I was not from this world.

Moving on, training went well during the year but then something happened: the Chuunin exams.

Of course I couldn't be in the Chuunin exams until I was Genin so I had to pass that exam but since it was written and I already knew most ninja stuff from my time as an otaku so it was an easy breeze so to speak.

Yamato had asked me if I wanted to solo and at the time I was perfectly fine with the idea until the fated day arrived.

As I went through the motions it felt like I was Naruto back, or I guess before, his Chuunin exams, I was incredibly confused, yet confident that whatever would happened I was going to carry through with it. Speaking of the traffic cone, I didn't see Naruto and his squad, and along with that fact the exams weren't even in Konoha, they were in Grass. There were a lot of scary looking Genin and I tried my hardest to avoid eye contact.

I also noticed it was almost exactly like the exams in Konoha, the written portion, the forest of death so to speak, and then the final fights. I'll skip the boring stuff but I do think my fight was rather hilarious to watch as well as be in.

It turns out that most of the scary looking kids weren't all that tough they had just perfected the art of glaring since most had dropped out after the written portion or were knocked senseless in the forest.

Technically it wasn't a forest of death, it was more like the reeds of ouch-I-don't-want-to-try-to-be-a-Chuunin-anymore because surprisingly enough they hurt, and the reeds fought back.

Like I said when the PVP began I got paired with possibly the smartest and hardest to defeat guy. I don't remember his name but one thing's for sure, I didn't know a person could do that with their body, doesn't matter which world I'm in.

The man could swallow my weapons, and they would appear on various parts of his flesh, protruding from his neck, his head, his ankles you name it. I had quickly learnt not to throw anything, all I could do was dodge like Yamato had taught me and I was very grateful for that small detail.

I only won because my opponent took some balls to the ball. At that point in time I was beginning to wonder if that area on the male species was my win zone.

Unlike the area in Konoha, the one in Grass had weapons to use as fail safe on the walls, most were used for training and one so happened to be a heavyweight for muscle building in a, you guessed it, ball shape.

I had gotten backed into the corner unsure and ready to lose because to be honest I hadn't thought I was I going to make it as far as I did. When I hit the wall and his kunai hands were closing in on my neck I could only scramble to find something to help. I was in desperate need and in my panic I grabbed the handle of the heavyweight and swung it like a pendulum straight where the sun don't shine.

After the ear piercing howl was I able to defeat him and gain the title of Chuunin. He had been my last battle and therefore I was able to lay claim to all things Chuunin. When I was finally allowed to go home Iruka was scared but very proud, he demanded I show him my official jacket and we went out to celebrate the next day.

When summer rolled around again it was nearing time for the Jounin exams, I was in no way shape or form ready to compete nor did I truly want to. Yamato, Iruka and I were perfectly content with me being a Chuunin and I finally got my first official job working in the mission's office.

The rest of the year passed smoothly up until my birthday, my twentieth birthday just so happened to be the same day I was assigned for a mission. It was going to be me, Kakashi, and Yamato. The mission was to simply go to earth country and meet Gaara halfway to Suna for a scroll which contained various informational items on a certain group (A.K.A the Akatsuki) of course this is the ninja world we're talking about nothing is ever that simple.

This is where the Akatsuki start to make their appearances, and it all started with me. At this point in time the Chuunin exams for Naruto and company were long done and Gaara has been Kazekage for awhile now and I was actually excited to meet him. He may be evil but I know since the Chuunin exams are over he's definitely friendlier, well not friendly per se, more like less hostile at first glance.

When we met I was designated to take the scroll to initiate my alliance with other countries. I looked into Gaara's sea foam green eyes and smiled before taking his hand and shaking it, of course this shocked almost everyone, and I know Yamato was surprised because the whole way here he had been telling me nonstop not to be afraid.

This meeting wasn't just for the scroll; it was also to ensure our trust and allegiance for the entire village, so before letting go I said to him, "I look forward to our continued allegiance Kazekage."

We were about to leave when the two members showed up. It wasn't Deidara and Sasori who were assigned to Gaara in the show, oh no these were two completely random Akatsuki, they must have been characters from before the shipudden, back when Pein was simply Yahiko and Nagato wasn't doomed to live with a million metal poles in his back.

Either way, they wore the red clouded cloaks.

At the time all I could do was freeze, staring at the cloaks in confusion and fear and a little bit of hope. What I was hoping for I'll never know but all I know was that a small spark of hope set fire to my heart that day, not to sound cheesy or anything.

Of course one would assume that with two former black ops members on your side, two who are also totally kick ass by nature, along with the Kazekage and his siblings, you'd think we couldn't lost.

I have never been more wrong in my life.

It turns out that those weren't the only Akatsuki members in the area. Whatever was in that scroll must have been extremely important because I don't think they would've tried as hard had it not.

Kakashi used his nin-dogs and lightning cutter, and Sharingan all in one battle, Yamato was literally pulling different wood techniques out of his ass while I tried not to get killed.

Helpful I know, but like I said I really suck at ninja stuff. Either way this was what started the Akatsuki's interest in me. During the fight the next two pairs, yes I said two as in there were six Akatsuki members fighting us, appeared and it seemed that our survival chances were slim. Of course we were talking Kakashi and Yamato, therefore they would live to continue the series me however, I wasn't so sure.

I remember thinking well that was fun being a background character for awhile, may as well try my best. I've never been afraid of dying, new me or old I had no fear of death. If I was to die during this fight I knew it would be quick because the Akatsuki wouldn't want to waste their time on me.

Once more, things didn't go how I had originally anticipated.

I unfortunately was captured during the fight, why me who knows, but they took me in and I saw the base for the first time. They hadn't bothered to keep me blindfolded once I entered the base walls.  
Wait, hold on let me backtrack a little, first of all I should probably explain how I got caught.

It went a little like this, "Kakashi ambush!" I shouted when a kunai flew past my face.

Kakashi sprung into action, he dived to his right when more kunai assaulted us from above. When our enemies revealed themselves, I was shocked to see the Akatsuki clouds dotting their blackened cloaks.

"Molly watch out," Yamato pulled me away when one of the men threw something unrecognizable towards me. I probably would've died, or been seriously injured, if Yamato hadn't saved me.

Quickly, I pocketed the scroll and pulled out my chakra blade, Yamato suggested I use one since my chakra was strong but I couldn't concentrate them into punches very well.

In a flash one of the guys disappeared before reappearing behind me, pushing Yamato out of the way and grabbing me by the hands, "Hand over the scroll missy and no one gets hurt, much."

I broke free from his grasp but only because he let me so he could spin me around, he had one arm under his command but the other had a mind of its own as the back of my left wrist made contact with his face.

He only growled before taking the scroll from my pouch and returning to his co-worker, whose shoulders were shaking indicating he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"You seem daring little girl," he snarled while slapping his co-worker to the ground.

"What was that for man?"

"This is not a laugh-worthy moment, now let's g-" that's when Kakashi jumped in with his lightning.

One of the men whistled a short tune and more people suddenly appeared.

When the other Akatsuki members began popping out of the woodwork did I truly begin to panic, I was just a Chuunin what could I possibly do against these guys?

By some Mary-Sue of fate I was able to get the scroll back, it was only after Kakashi used his Sharingan and Gaara had his sand coffin up and running did I manage to pluck the scroll from his grasp.

The first thought that came to my mind was to learn what was in it; while Kakashi, Yamato, Gaara, and I ran I was ready to open the scroll to learn whatever the hell was in it just in case it got taken away again. Normally I would've tossed it to Kakashi to memorize it with his Sharingan but currently he was too far away, and he can only use that thing so many times before he reaches his breaking point. So I decided to do it myself.

Now, I don't have the best of memory but Iruka showed me a little trick to memorizing things, he said if I use my chakra on my on my sight and brain I would be able to duplicate the effects to almost photographic memory.

In order to do that however, I had to build up my chakra and concentrate as hard as I could which slowed my pace ever so slightly but it was enough for them to catch up.

Here's where the interesting thing happens, when I opened the scroll to read it what I found inside was a bunch of unreadable text. As I stared I got a paper cut from the edge of the Manila paper. The sheet used my blood to activate a seal and suddenly the sheet was blank. While I was confused a dark cloud suddenly obscured my vision and I hit the ground with a loud thud.

I felt the scroll being taken from my hand and someone saying, "Stupid bitch her blood has sealed it! Grab her and let's go we can't open the seal without her."

I was being lifted and faintly I remember someone calling my name but after that there was nothing.

When I woke up I was lying sideways on the ground with my hands chakra tied behind my back.

The room was dark save for the one light hanging above me that was swinging precariously. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure, a couple in fact; their glowing eyes were all staring at me with the same glare.

I thought I saw what looked to be Samehada but I'll never know all I remember was Pein, not pain oh no, not pain, but Pein himself standing over me ready to kill me with a flick of his wrist.

He held the scroll in front of me, "Unlock it or things will get much worse."

I shrugged as best as I could before smirking up at him, "If I'm going to die I may as well do it my style. Torture me all you want I'm taking all of my secrets, and yours, to the grave," I figured if I could hold until a rescue team finds me, then I wouldn't have to do as they say.

At this point I'm sure you realize how much of an idiot I was and still am.

As I assumed, he didn't actually believe I knew anything about the Akatsuki so he chalked it up as nothing. He didn't know I knew that behind those Rinnegan eyes was really Nagato.

Pein knelt down beside me all the while looking in my eyes; I never broke contact because that would be admitting defeat, something I wasn't going to do just yet. Sure I was terrified as hell and I thought I was probably going to die, but it had finally hit that the Akatsuki were real. So if I was going to die, that insane and slightly animalistic never dying side of me had decided to have a little fun with them first.

"You can see it in my eyes can't you, Nagato?" I whispered when he was merely a hair's length away, his eyes widened in pure shock before he stood and stepped on my chest to keep me still.

"This scroll can only be opened by your will, Sasori let's try your plan before we move on."

The chakra rope dissipated but soon I found myself unable to control my body, part of me thought it was kind of cool but the majority of me was terrified.

Pein held the scroll open while Sasori forced my body to cut my finger open with a kunai and smear my blood over it. I watched the paper sucked in my blood but in the end it rejected it. Pein looked peeved and Sasori dropped the chakra strings and I was tied up again, "Just as I thought," he muttered to himself.

This is where it all went to shit.


	4. The Third Year

**Chapter 4: The Third Year**

* * *

The plan was to torture me until I opened the scroll by will and if that didn't work I was assuming that they were going to kill me and reanimate me so I would do it by will that way. I didn't have even the slightest of clues as to what was in the scroll but I could only figure it was something of true value if they were going to go so far to get me to open it.

The evil half of me, my fangirl side, was rather tempted to open it because like I said I was tired of the good guys winning, however my more rational side kept Iruka in mind, I had to be good.

I won't get into details but I'm not going to lie what they did to me was horrible. It left strong emotional and physical scars across my body. They tried stabbing, cutting, burning, even… sexual torture (though to be honest my very sadistic and no longer sane fangirl side kind of liked it, but almost all the members with a prick had a shot at it so I ended up being… you know… by all of them) and to this day my fingernails are still trying to grow back, yes this is where reality hit. The Akatsuki weren't going to magically accept me.

I didn't want to give in, during one session Pein wanted to know how much I knew and since I wasn't going to spill anything but my guts anytime soon he decided to search my mind. It was weird feeling to have someone crawl through your memories. It was like he was ripping me from the inside out, the process was a lot more painful then I would've imagined and I'm pretty sure I would've been screaming the whole time if my mouth wasn't sewn shut by Kakuzu.

Pein saw everything, he knew everything, I knew that he knew I wasn't from this universe which left him confused, something that amused me. He knew of my ever growing sick obsession with the Akatsuki, Kisame in particular, and he knew I wasn't going to back down. My will was far too strong and though I was in massive amounts of pain I had to do it for Konoha. Their techniques were horrendous but all I could do was hope I'd see the light of day again.

I was lucky, and I use that term loosely, that I got keep all my limbs. I'm pretty sure I didn't keep all my organs, but I kept my limbs. The only reason I was still alive was because Konan healed me after every session until I was stable enough for another. I don't know how long I was in there but finally one day I decided to Mary-sue this shit.

It amazed me how I could still talk but when Pein came in that day I just smiled and before he even began I said to him, "Try saying please," before I passed out and hitting my head on the floor.

I woke up with a massive headache, something I've been doing quite often in the Akatsuki base.

Instead of being tied up I was held in an extremely dim room but it's not like it mattered, my eyes were so swollen I probably couldn't see anyway. When I heard the door open that day it was different, since I had said try saying please the torture sessions have become more and more infrequent. I don't think they were actually considering but maybe they were trying to switch tactics anyway, for as long as they've been doing what they do I've never spoken a word about opening the scroll.

Today a different person walked in, it wasn't Pein like usual, it was Konan. The only reason I knew it was her was because of the faint feminine silhouette in the doorway.

I thought she was going to heal me but instead she sat in the chair I usually was tortured in and looked at me. She stared for awhile before finally speaking to me like a normal human being.

"My name is Konan," she said simply. I rolled over to give her a glance.

"I know," I coughed out, "I'm Molly," up until that very moment no one had even bothered to know my name and the fact I was so easy going with Konan came as a surprise to her as well.

"You seem at ease with me," she said with a voice full of curiosity.

I couldn't sit up, or smile, so I just blinked and agreed, "Part of it is you've been keeping me alive. The other part is that you're cool," of course I was speaking out of my fan girl ass but I couldn't help it, I genuinely thought Konan was cool.

She stared at me for a moment before continuing, "What did you mean by try saying please? You are aware of whom we are and that we don't simply ask."

I shrugged but ended up reopening the cut on my shoulder, "I know who the Akatsuki are, and I honestly don't care you guys do what you want when you want, that doesn't bother me. What I meant was you could try not beating me up to where I can't talk. It doesn't help when I can't answer yes and Pein's fuse goes off and I kiss the wall again."

Talking hurt but I needed to get this out while I could. Last time Pein had broken my jaw and I couldn't talk for a week until Konan finally fixed it.

I coughed up some more blood and I had to shut my eyes before I could concentrate again. Konan remained silent for awhile and after about twenty minutes she stood and left leaving me in the darkness once more.

I was beginning to wonder if they were considering the kill and reanimate plan so they could get this done and over with but it never happened. Maybe it had just been my hallucination but I had thought I heard Pein telling me about it during a session a few weeks ago. Even though I had lost all sense of time I knew it's been awhile. I had begun counting my session as weeks since he can only torture me so often what with his schedule and my physical health.

So far it's been what I believe to be three months or more, sometimes Pein wouldn't come by for what felt like forever to let me heal before he came and hammered the nail on the head so to speak. During that time however other member's had free reign on me. It wasn't like I was only Pein's prisoner, I belonged to all of them, and as stated before most of them were men and Konan wasn't even an option to begin with and I assumed I was one of the few female prisoners so... I assume you understand where I'm going with this.

Stupid gender...

I don't know who I lost my V-card to but I wished I did so I could kill him, or at least kick him in the balls for possibly getting me pregnant. Of course I would never have such power to do something, but I could at least pretend right? After all, it was the only thing I had left to do while I was locked up.

The more I thought about I found it easier and easier to believe that it was Hidan who took the first turn. My assailant was rough, he bit me a few times, and he had no shirt to begin with. Usually when someone enters it doesn't matter what happens but they come in fully clothed and leave the same. Hidan was what I assumed to be the first since we all know his personality but than again there was a nagging feeling in the back of my head that it was someone else, the muscles weren't there as much as I'd expect to be on Hidan which was what confused me. The other various noises didn't sound like him either. It didn't matter though, I think I'd prefer not knowing.

Anyway a few days went by, or maybe hours I was asleep most of the time, before a new face presented itself. I was only able to see for a fraction of second when the door opened and in the dim lighting I only had enough time to make out a figure. When I looked up today I saw someone I never thought I'd meet.

He took me from the room, picking me up and unceremoniously tossing me over his shoulder, not caring if he broke a rib or not. While I was carried down the hall I was able to see for the first time in what felt like forever. Granite it was dim hall lighting but since I've been in the dark for several weeks it was probably all I could handle.

Kisame threw me into a room and shut the door. I noticed it was an actual room and not just a dark cell. There was light, not an awfully huge amount and there was a light switch that made the room pitch black. I thought I even saw a bathroom; of course I was way too weak to investigate so I just laid there on the cot trying not to move.

While I was lying there all I could really do was think. Sometimes during the sessions things would get really bad, but if I _had_ gotten pregnant from any of them the child was definitely gone due to the amount of kicks and punches and stabs I got. After hours of thought eventually I fell into a blissfully quiet sleep.

I stayed in that room for maybe three or four weeks. During that time of course I wasn't left alone, the only difference was that I was able to wash up if I was strong enough. I couldn't really consider it washing since there was no soap, and it wasn't an improvement since Pein would use the drowning technique.

One day someone came in and *ahem* stuff happened, but unlike most of my "regulars" this one was different. I wouldn't call it caring, but he certainly wasn't as rough as what I've been through. Of course not all of them are rough, surprisingly enough, but like a few others it was just to simply release some hormonal tension. I don't want to get too graphic, but I do remember his hair being extremely soft.

That same day I was harshly awakened by Deidara who slapped me with the back of his hand. By the look in his eye I could tell torture wasn't his style but I knew Pein had probably asked him to do this to try and get some progress out of me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tobi bouncing around and being adorable. I knew who he was but I was going to act oblivious because I could. I was sure Pein had already told him all that I knew about the Akatsuki but quite frankly I no longer gave a damn.

Deidara held the scroll up and asked angrily, "Are you going to open it un?"

I pursed my swollen lips but ended up aggravating the loose tooth in my mouth, "Maybe…" I answered coyly.

"Maybe isn't an answer un," Tobi came over and clapped his hands.

"Can I try senpai?" he cleared his throat, "Girl-chan will you open this scroll up for Tobi pretty please?"

I smiled, "See now that's how you ask," I took the scroll from Deidara's hands. To be honest, I was tired from being tortured day in and day out, I was ready to just die, and if meant giving them the scroll then so be it, it's not like they could win with Naruto and company around anyway.

After you've been beaten up and banged around and _banged_ for weeks and weeks there had to be a stopping point. All battles have to end and finally I decided this was mine, they weren't going to kill me without the scroll being opened and there wasn't much use continuing on like this. This was going to be my end zone, where I believed I was going to die; hopefully before I open this thing they'll do one thing for me as a dying wish.

I needed to get word to Iruka and everyone else and let them know I'm dead; I didn't need them worrying about my safety when there was nothing to protect.

With a sigh I lifted up my arm, all I had to do was smack my hand against the wall to get it bleeding again, the two stared at me, shocked, but before I touched the scroll I looked at the both of them, "Will you do me a favor though?"

"What senpai?" Tobi said cutely while Deidara rolled his eyes and growled out a "What?"

"If I write a note will you deliver it? You can read it I don't care, I just want someone I care about to know what happened. I'm going to die anyway right?"

Tobi screeched out an 'of course girl-chan!' but Deidara only gave me a look, "I'm guessing you're not going to open the scroll until then un?"

I shook my head and Deidara groaned before going out to what I assumed was to ask Pein about what to do. Tobi and I sat in silence for maybe an hour until I began to get tired and I was about to fall asleep. Tobi patted my cheek to try to keep me awake but I was sliding down into the sheets of the bed I was so exhausted from just that short conversation.

"Girl-chan Tobi knows you're tired but you have to stay awake until Deidara-senpai comes back!"

I rolled away from him and shut my eyes, "Just let me sleep..." Tobi was still shaking me and I managed to stay up for about another half an hour before passing out.

Right so let's pause for a moment, I swear to god this is what actually happened, Tobi A.K.A actual Akatsuki leader, woke me up and brought me out of the base and literally kicked me out.

Of course he wouldn't let me go without opening the scroll and with some reluctance I did so, inside was just the same useless markings and what looked to be the seal that brought me here but he took it the moment I unlocked it.

"Why are you letting me go?" I asked in confusion as we walked away from the base, I wasn't blindfolded, or cuffed, or anything which made me confused.

"You know a lot sempai, but it won't matter if I erase your memory. Besides, we need someone to warn Konoha about us."

We stopped and he laid a hand on the back of my head, "You're going to erase my memories?" I asked and Tobi merely made a noise of recognition in the back of his throat.

Before he erased me I turned around to see his masked face and I peered into the one eye hole that seemed to glare out at the world. I gave him a half grin, "You're planning on using me for later aren't you?" he didn't have to give me answer, we both already knew it, and he just patted my head.

Tobi made a giggling noise, "Tobi like's you and wants to see you again."

I rolled my eyes and got a headache, I was hardly in any condition to stand so when I did that action I nearly fell over and Tobi had to hold me up.

"What is it you want?"

I could hear the smirk in his voice, it was still pitched to Tobi but the way he said it was all Akatsuki leader, "We'll meet again sempai, maybe you'll remember Tobi when we do but right now you've heard a lot and you know a lot and that's not good. Tobi can tell you're special but he just hasn't figured out what to do with you yet. When the time comes I'll see you again!" Tobi blew a fake kiss in my direction and I caught it and pretended to put it in my pocket.

Why he was letting me go had been a reason completely unfathomable, but now as I look back on my story I understand completely.

With a flick of his fingers I had no idea who was standing in front of me. I felt disoriented and a mind numbing pain began to claim me and send me into darkness, the last thing I remembered was fighting with Kakashi and Yamato.

I still knew who he was, but I couldn't remember a thing that had happened in the base. All those memories were stored away, locked up with the key momentarily destroyed.

After that he had teleported me away to somewhere far from the base. With my memory gone I could only stumble around until I passed out.

My only guess was that someone found me because when I woke up I was in the hospital, someone was holding my hand on one side and I saw a familiar blond on the other.

"Molly!" Naruto gasped and when I saw him I noticed how much he had grown without me. He must have been fifteen now yet he looked so much older.

I turned my head when my hand was gently squeezed to gain my attention, "Molly you're okay…" Iruka breathed out a sigh of relief before alerting the doctors and Tsunade came rushing in.

She checked my physical state saying I'd recover eventually. I had many deep scars along my legs and back, fresh bruises dotted my arms and neck and I had a very unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I asked Naruto and Iruka to leave the room for a moment so I could talk to Tsunade in private. I asked her if I would live and she said I would with time and medications.

Tsunade sat down on the bed and tried to comfort me, "We don't have to talk about this right now, but do you know what happened to you?"

I shook my head, "I was in a fight I think."

She nodded, "You were taken by the Akatsuki. What they wanted from you I don't know and how you escaped is quite the mystery but I'm glad you're alive."

"How long was I out?" I rubbed the side of my bandaged head.

"About four days, when you didn't immediately wake up the two outside your room were very worried."

I nodded, "How long was I… gone?"

"Six and half months, we've been trying to devise a strategy to retrieve you but it was rather difficult when we didn't even know where their hideout was."

After that I tried to take it as easy as possible trying to let my injuries heal. I couldn't remember what went down when I was kidnapped.

One thing for sure, without my memories and when I was in the moment I didn't think I was pregnant, well three weeks later on a Saturday morning suddenly changed all that.

I was still bedridden from my kidnapping and all I did was sleep and stare at the ceiling. When I was finally healed enough to sit up I had been reading when the contents in my stomach began to push their way up. I was forced from the bed out of instinct but I wasn't strong enough to walk correctly. I fell to the floor clutching the pain in my stomach trying so very hard not to throw up.

A fresh wave of sickness washed over me and with new motivation I booked it the bathroom. The adrenaline was keeping me going but when the feeling finally passed I had to wait there until Tsunade came by for my daily checkup.

She was concerned that I had thrown up and after a few ongoing days of the action she finally had me scanned at the hospital. The results made my confused mind cry.

She brought in the tests and at the time Iruka was there sitting by the bed clutching my hand in his apartment. Tsunade came in and sighed.

"These didn't show up before probably because it was much too soon and because we weren't particularly looking for it but Molly you're…"

Her voice trailed off and I didn't know what to expect, "I'm what lady Tsunade?" I was inwardly praying it wasn't something terribly awful, like I had an incurable illness or something, but no it was something else, something much worse.

"You're pregnant."

The shock that overwhelmed me was so crushing that I couldn't breathe. When I woke up in the hospital, Tsunade said that when I received the news my heart had sped up and I had fainted.

I didn't know whose it could be, I literally hoed out on all of them. I was assuming that it wasn't Itachi's, or Zetsu's, or Kakuzu's, or Konan's, or Sasori's because they either couldn't or didn't want to because it wasn't their style. However even after ruling those five out that still left a lot of other members. It wasn't just the ten we know and have heard about, there were about twenty others who weren't official members but that didn't mean they couldn't do what they wanted to me.

I would have to wait until the due date to find out, hopefully I'd know by the face but until then I could only tough it out.

Before I've never given much thought to abortion, I've never thought I'd have to consider ending an unborn child's life and the weight was pressing down on me. I talked it out with Iruka and we decided to keep the kid no matter what.

The puking wasn't fun in anyway shape or form and I'd never thought I'd be pregnant at twenty-two years old, at least that's assuming my birthday has passed. I had read somewhere that if you ate bananas it would help with morning sickness so I tried it and it for sure settled my stomach, most times at least. There were times when the potassium either didn't kick in or my body just flat on rejected it.

When I fully recovered physically all I had left was to heal my mental state. I was a train wreck, I flinched every time I was touched, I cried when I got close to kunai, and I always passed out from fear when I was in the dark.

Yamato tried to train me again but only because I insisted but when I tried to fight I was unsure of my actions and ended up failing. I hadn't told him I was pregnant at first but when I kept insisting Tsunade intervened and wouldn't allow him or any other teacher to train me until I delivered my child.

As soon as I could stand the full brightness of the sun Iruka enlisted me to a psychiatrist who had heard everything about my experience. I couldn't contain it yet I didn't want to relieve it even the slightest bit.

The psychiatrist was someone who also treated ANBU patients, whether they were newly instated or have dealt with years of loss and agony. My mind was so broken it equaled the unstable thoughts of Konoha's assumed finest.

I told her about all the times I was close to breaking down and letting them have the scroll but I kept pushing on reminding myself I had Konoha to protect.

The psychiatrist was hardly a help, I appreciated her actions and she was very nice but talking it out only made it worse. My split mind was now fully cracked in two and one half of me was saying that I had to get revenge on the Akatsuki for doing this to me. It was saying that after I give birth I was going to train myself to death. It was pushing me to take the Jounin exams and get so good that the ANBU would be scared of me.

The other half was screaming at me to stop, it was pleading, begging even, for me to stop what I'm doing and go back to being the happy little housewife I was, forget about the Akatsuki and try to go back to living normally, you've got Iruka and you're a well trained shinobi there was no reason to be mad or sad.

My lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on my body, and I ended up staring at the night sky when my eyes refused to remain shut. I still wasn't stable enough to work and without training there was nothing to keep me busy.

Cocoa, who seemed to have been forgotten, kept me company during the day and taking him for walks certainly did us justice. I felt stronger and Cocoa was happy to be outside again.

When Naruto wasn't training with Jiraiya he'd come by to visit, he isn't fully aware of what happened and thinks the child I'm pregnant with is Iruka's but I didn't really have the heart to tell him otherwise.

Tsunade was the one providing him the details of what happened to me but she tells him bits at a time so he could process and worry and understand all at the same time.

It was springtime when my baby bump was showing. I still had no idea whose it was but from the ultrasounds I was supposed to be having a girl. Iruka and I had tried going over names, for boys and girls in case the scan was wrong, but we could never concentrate for very long. The idea of having a kid that wasn't biologically his was shocking and somewhat painful for him and I thought he was a doll for accepting it and not kicking me out over such a thing.

A lot of people who knew us as a couple were heartbroken when they heard it wasn't Iruka's child and that made me feel all the worse. I was lucky to have all the support I did otherwise I'd be even more insane then I already was.

When the months were close to up, it was nearing mid-August when I felt the first kick.

I've always heard people talk about their baby kicking and I always thought it would hurt but I was merely surprised when I felt a little nudge from my stomach.

The rest of life went on as normally as possible, I tried to take up cooking for dinner again but sometimes my mood swings wouldn't allow it. A lot of times I had random cravings for sushi and it drove me nuts since I wasn't a huge fan of the stuff.

My body was also screaming at me to eat hot soup while it was the middle of summer and during winter it had demanded I eat ice cream and sit in the cold basement.

I didn't know what was going on with me, Tsunade said it was hormones and the baby growing inside of me.

Finally when everything started to boil down was I able to concentrate, of course by that time it was the due date.

We hadn't thrown a baby shower or anything like that, Iruka and weren't in much of a celebrating mood, so ironically when I was in shower one day I was surprised when I felt a pop and liquids came out in a very unsettling fashion.

When time was becoming shorter I had requested to keep a messenger bird close by in case something like this were to happen and I sent it to Iruka first in which it then had orders to go to Tsunade.

When I got to the hospital and twelve hours of labor later, I finally got to see my kid.

Boy was I in for a shock.


	5. The Fourth Year

**Chapter 5: The Fourth Year**

* * *

I stared at the little boy in my arms.

They were wrong, it was a boy not a girl, and I stared and stared.

The kid looked up at me with wide yellow eyes; he clutched at my hair and made soft gurgling noises. The fact that his eyes were already opened was mildly surprising. Iruka had been sitting next to me the whole time but now he was standing in full shock.

I was pretty sure he didn't know whose kid it was, but I sure did.

Blue scaled skin, yellow eyes, and gills were hard to mistake on anyone else, yeah it was Kisame's kid.

I could only stare with unbelieving eyes at the child who seemed so happy to be here. The doctors and nurses and Tsunade herself seemed confused and were waiting patiently for me to say something.

"Arashi," I said silently.

Iruka looked up at me and squeezed my hand, Tsunade blinked at the realization of I said something, "What?"

"His name is Arashi," Iruka nodded at my choice and no further argument was made over the name. We went home and of course we stock piled all the necessary child things; I had no idea how to take care of a baby so I just had to hope my maternal instincts would kick in.

Since the doctors said it was going to be a girl we got a couple of girly things, I was paranoid and we did the room in nice neutral colors. We painted the walls in white and green stripes and got dolls for a girl and stuffed animals for a boy. We didn't bother getting clothing besides diapers and other necessities but now that we had our child we were going to work it out later.

We had to give the spare room to Arashi but it didn't bother us that much, we figured it was time we slept together anyways.

After a month I realized God must have been watching my ordeal, or he was at least sorry for making me go through it. Arashi was a silent child, he didn't scream or kick or bite, he simply chewed on a rubber duck we bought him and he smiled and giggled all the time. I think he also granted me temporary immunity since I ended up clean of any diseases, I reminded myself to pray in thanks as often as possible.

When things finally began to settle in I couldn't help myself when I asked Iruka why he kept me. By the look in his eyes his answer was one hundred percent truthful and I could only smile as he talked, something I haven't done in awhile.

"Molly you've been through hell and back, I like you, no I _love _you, Molly, and I'm not about to leave you to fend for yourself. That's the last thing you need especially with a child, and if the Akatsuki captured you and you got away chances are they'll want to try and reclaim you. And I am not about to let that happen."

I hugged him and he jumped in surprise, "Thank you Iruka... thank you so much..." my curiosity had been settled for the moment and I could relax just enough to see properly again, for the moment. He was right when he said the Akatsuki were still out there, I had gotten out alive but I hadn't taken any of them down with me.

Anyway, let's focus on Arashi for awhile. Arashi loved Cocoa and just like his biological dad he was strong. He wasn't even that old and he was already making an attempt at walking. I had found him playing with the still young pup trying to get up over the playpen to get the toy he had chucked over the side.

Arashi had inherited parts from both of us. Like Kisame he had his looks, his sharp teeth, his eyes, and his strength, but like me I could already tell he had my easy going and lazy attitude along with a strong will and he had my face shape and my black hair was starting to grow at the roots, though his were true yellow when he was first born they were beginning to show hints of my eye color as well, creating a greenish tint since my eyes were blue. He was quite a sight but I still loved him because he was a part of me, even if it was slightly forced.

Naruto was coming by to see Arashi for the first time and I was praying to God that Tsunade told him it wasn't Iruka's or else I'd have hell in an orange jump suit to deal with.

The doorbell rang and Arashi looked around wondering what the new noise was. Iruka opened the door and Naruto came in slowly. From his actions and the saddened smile on his face I knew he was well aware of the minor detail of Arashi not being both of ours.

"So what's his name?" Naruto picked up Arashi who began to take an instant liking to him, when he was born he met a lot of nurses and I could tell when he liked someone he preferred to squish their cheeks and cuddle up to them, which was what he was currently doing to Naruto.

"His name is Arashi," Iruka came to stand by me and he laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. Our baby giggled and Naruto bounced him on his knee while he sat down.

"That's a good name," Naruto smiled up at us and I left the three men alone so I could make dinner. While we ate Arashi was beaming and staring at a cup in wonder. He still needed milk but he seemed much more interested in actual food. I couldn't blame him, he came out with teeth from the start.

Arashi didn't take naps, it's only been four months and we've never been able to get him to take a nap. He had so much energy that he was nearly impossible to keep up with. Iruka said he kind of reminded him of Naruto back when he was in school and I only nodded even though I knew exactly what the traffic cone was like.

I was cooking dinner one day when I felt something playing with my feet. I looked down to see Arashi pulling at my sock and giggling. I stared at him for a moment before looking in the living room to see the cage wide open. The lock on it was broken and Cocoa was sitting there wagging his tail with his tongue hanging out.

I went back into the kitchen and picked Arashi up, "Silly boy," I put him in his high chair and continued to cook. When Iruka came home he rushed in only to find Arashi sitting peacefully and playing with his short hair.

"What happened to the play pen?"

I shrugged, "I think he broke it, I'll fix it tomorrow but for right now go ahead and relax, dinner's almost done."

Iruka sighed but did as I told him to. As time went on my brain began to piece itself back together. My quick resiliency was beginning to pay off and in just seven short months I was able to concentrate all my energy in taking care of Arashi.

His first birthday came quickly and he enjoyed the various presents he received. While he was tossing a tennis ball for Cocoa, Iruka and I sat down and watch with content smiles.

Finally, and I mean _finally, _I was able to start training again. I was mildly out of shape due to the amount of ice cream Arashi made me eat when he was still inside of me, but my muscles still remembered how to do an extreme bitch slap, so to speak.

Life seemed to return to normal, of course any thought about returning home to where I was born and raised was completely thrown out the window. This was my home now, living here in Konoha, I was rooted here and nothing was going to change that.

Gosh dang it I was a girl, therefore I needed to start being right or else I'll put the whole female species at risk of being wrong because once more, things don't turn out how you expect them to.

It was a warm Tuesday afternoon, Arashi couldn't speak quite yet but he was smart and already was close to saying what sounded like mama, when I decided to take him swimming. The sun was hot on our faces but Arashi enjoyed the feel of water for the first time.

I was watching from the beach while he played in the shallow end, I tried putting flotation devices on him but he only bit at them with his now very sharp teeth until they popped and came off. If that was the case I hoped he was as good a swimmer as his biological father.

Iruka was still at work but he was going to meet us in about at hour to join in the fun. Naruto was gone with Jiraiya for a couple of weeks but Sakura decided to be with us for awhile. Now that she was all grown up and Sasuke had joined forces with Orochi-snake freak, I could stand to be with her for more than five minutes. Without her going nuts over Sasuke and acting like an idiot (I mean come on she broke up with her best friend because of him who does that?) I could see what she's grown in to.

Sakura had been at the hospital on the other side of Tsunade when I was delivering Arashi, something I had failed to mention but at the time I was _still_ trying to get over the fact that I was _pregnant._

After Arashi was out I was beginning to notice that the old fan girl me was gone. Not permanently gone as I would've hoped, but much quieter, I wondered if it was a quiet satisfaction that I had technically gotten who I wanted. I never imagined my insanity levels would return to normal after such an awful run-in with the Akatsuki yet I appreciated it nonetheless.

I'm not saying I'd do something like that again oh no, I'm just saying I think all that torture broke that half of me and now I'm whole, for the most part. I still had deep integrated fears that would never go away but now I could do it without having to think about my past.

Suddenly I found myself drenched in cold water. I opened my eyes and frantically brushed my soaked bangs from my hair just in time to see Arashi making his way back towards the water. Sakura shouted out a, "Hey!" before chasing after him playfully.

Ten minutes after running around in the shallow end we washed up on shore, out of breath. My ninja ears caught the sound of shifting sand under feet and I looked up to see Iruka, who had apparently brought friends.

Along with him came Hinata, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Kiba, and Ino. The boys went into the water the play with Arashi while the girls and I talked about how they would be useless without us. I noticed Kakashi sitting off to the side possibly pondering why he came in the first place, when I saw Iruka walk up to him, most likely to ask him to swim.

I saw Kakashi shake his head and in answer to that Iruka sat down and talked to him. Out of instinct I of course had to make a scene out of it, "Don't steal my man Kakashi!" I yelled making everyone look in their direction. Iruka blushed and Kakashi smiled under his mask. Kakashi and I weren't best friends but we had our moments.

At this point the idea of Kakashi and Iruka going gay for one another was just a light in the past, as well as one that was completely crushed as my inner fan girl completely agreed with me for once, the agreement being that Iruka was _ours_. Kakashi stood and I saw him point off somewhere and a moment later he left. Iruka walked over to me and smiled awkwardly. I wondered if maybe he was mad that I had chased the copy-nin away but I could see in his eyes he was perfectly fine with the socially awkward Jounin leaving.

We went home, a tired and slightly sunburned Arashi in hand, and we went to sleep.

I woke in the middle of the night to a soft thump.

Immediately I feared Arashi had done something and I high tailed it to his room. Inside the door frame nothing seemed out of the ordinary and I looked into his crib to see the little boy fast asleep. I breathed a sigh of relief and started to go back to my room when I heard another small thud.

I looked at the door from my position at the end of the hall and walked to the living room and listened. There was no further noises save for the wind so I thought that perhaps the tree outside the apartment was just bumping into the side of the building.

Once more as I turned to leave I heard it again. Frustrated I went to the kitchen and got myself a glass of water since I was now wide awake. A nervous feeling came over me and I noticed the kitchen window was half open. Out of fear I ran to it and slammed it shut. When I turned around I would've screamed save for the hand on my mouth.

"Don't scream or you'll only make it worse on yourself sempai," Tobi said while scrunching up his shoulders, finger to where his mouth should be as he shushed me.

Now remember, at this point in time I know I was captured but I don't remember what happened and even though I knew who Tobi was I didn't know that _he _knew.

Now let's go back to my present state of mind, "Why are you here... who are you!" I was going to play dumb since he didn't know of my knowledge about the Akatsuki, with that knowledge I had been planning my sweet revenge by relaying everything to the Hokage and writing it off merely as I remembered some things that they had said during my time captured.

"Oh Molly-chan doesn't remember what fun we had does she..." Tobi sighed heavily and leaned against our island counter-top. His voice went deep for a brief moment while he spoke, "I'm going to save you the embarrassment," before he laid a finger against my forehead and I suddenly remembered a few things.

One of those things being that he knew _everything_.

I tried to back away only for my side to be crushed against the counter top, "What do you want?" I whisper spat into his face.

Tobi patted my head gently and gestured for me to look behind him. Shifting my gaze two inches to the right I saw Kisame, insert inaudible gasp here, holding Arashi.

"No!" I shrieked and ran for my child but Tobi caught hold of my waist in an iron grip.

"I'm giving you the chance to let that man in the other room live. He doesn't have to know about this if you go with us quietly," he whispered in my ear.

I struggled to break free but for once kneeing him in the crotch didn't work.

Tears streamed down my face, "No not Iruka, don't touch Iruka! And put Arashi down he has nothing to do with this!"

Kisame chuckled and I noticed for the first time how he was holding him. He wasn't precariously draped over one shoulder, he was holding him with one arm, no Kisame had both arms wrapped around Arashi in a snug hold.

"He's my kid too apparently, and if that's the case shouldn't I have a say in how he grows up?" he gave me a sarcastic and toothy grin.

"No!" I rushed forward but ended up on my knees as Tobi kicked the back of my knee.

"You know, you've got a strong will, I could tell when you were with us before. And if this kid has both of our genes he could be a great fighter or even, dare I say, better than me."

I let out a desperate sob. I'm sure Iruka was fully awake but I prayed he wouldn't come in here. I had no doubt in my mind that they would kill him in an instant and I didn't want to have to watch that.

"You assholes!" was the only thing I could honestly think to scream out. Kisame made a noise in the back of his throat before walking over and forcing me to look up into his eyes.

"Trust me sweetheart, I know _everything,_ Pein let us in on all the details going on in that pretty little head of yours and it makes me wonder why you would call your love such a thing."

I wrenched my face from his grasp, "I haven't loved you since I stepped foot in this world."

Kisame smirked, "All the better," and with that Tobi hoisted me up and tossed me over his shoulder in which I was tied with chakra rope in no time.

I wiggled but I couldn't move very far, "What do you even want with me... with us!"

Tobi readjusted me, "Oh don't worry about it sempai, let's just say Pein-sama may have figured out how to help you get back home, and Arashi-san will make a good fighter."

In answer to that I let out an ear piercing wail, I couldn't let them go to my world. I couldn't let them take it over, if I knew the Akatsuki, I know they want power and control, and I'll be damned and sent to hell before I let them take control of my world, let alone my own kid!

They casually walked to the front entrance, not caring about a single thing when I saw Iruka creeping up, kunai in hand. I could tell by the alertness in his eyes that he had been listening for awhile, it didn't matter if they were ninja or not it still took someone time to wake up, even in a situation as dire as this.

I shook my head frantically and Iruka held his hand to his lips signaling for me to be quiet.

With that he charged, Iruka flew in to attack Tobi who dropped me only to fight Iruka off. Hardly a minute had gone by when the door was ripped off it's hinges and Tsunade and multiple Jounin and ANBU began fighting viciously.

For a brief moment I wondered why she was here but my only conclusion was that Iruka used my emergency messenger bird to contact the Hokage, I still kept one around just in case something happened like if I had a mental breakdown or something. I was making such a racket in the kitchen I had vaguely begun to wonder if I'd see Iruka peak his head around the corner and do a battle cry before charging in to attack.

Instead he called in the cavalry, he's definitely smarter than I am.

"Don't hurt Arashi!" I cried out over and over, Tsunade took a moment from the battle to untie me and I attempted a rush at Kisame to try and get my little boy back.

In my attempt I was grabbed by Tobi and a sharp pain, probably designed to knock me out, only made me dizzy. After them beating me senseless for so long my head was thick and was now impervious to knock outs, for the most part anyway.

Tobi tossed me over his shoulder again and was humming lightly in my ear while he dodged everyone's fists and unfortunately when he didn't feel like blocking or dodging them he used me as a shield, only when they were punches though, when the fight took the turn to kunai he sighed, "Sempai can't you use your sword? Tobi's getting tired!"

Kisame grunted, "I would if I wasn't holding a kid, here you take both the brats and get out of here, I'll clean up the mess."

The two met back to back and Tobi took Arashi in his arms, I kept kicking and trying to make it difficult on him

"Uh, Tobi forgot the transportation jutsu!" Kisame groaned before pulling the wrappings off his massive weapon. With the bindings off I saw Samehada for the first time and in real life, all the other noises disappeared for a moment as I stared in horror at the slobbering and writing scaled sword in Kisame's hands.

I was finally shaken back to life when one of the ANBU got too close and was suddenly snapped in half due to the force of the blow from the sword. Warm blood sprayed across my face and I ended up spitting out the iron taste in my mouth.

At this point Arashi was up and was screaming, I've been shouting over him so most of the noises were unheard until now. Tsunade aimed a chakra infused punch towards Tobi who jumped away and kicked one of the windows out. Just as Tobi entered the outside world I caught sight of the last thing I never wanted to see.

Kisame used Iruka's weapon against him and as if in slow motion, turned the kunai around and plunged the sharp end deep into his shoulder. With one last involuntary scream and a jerk of my body I broke the ropes around my wrists, cutting deep into my wrists in the process, and ran for Iruka while momentarily forgetting Arashi.

I managed maybe four feet when Kisame suddenly crashed into me and picked me up, hauling me over his shoulder.

"Iruka!" his eyes eyes met mine for a brief moment before closing and my line of sight was obscured by ANBU who began to hunt the Akatsuki members down, "_Iruka!"_ I screamed once more at the top of my burning lungs.

In a flash the six ANBU following us out into the woods were dead.

I was put down and I scrambled to run when someone stomped on my back and forced me down into the dirt. I couldn't speak proper words, only scream Iruka's name over and over again, and crying out a salty river.

Arashi was back in Kisame's arms and he was trying to quiet the screaming child down. Five minutes later I heard light giggles and I turned to see Arashi squishing Kisame's slightly amused face.

"Arashi..." I said airily, feeling betrayed that my son had taken a liking to him.

"You should sleep sempai," Tobi leaned over and I felt a small pinch in my neck, darkness overcame me and my head hit the ground with a thump.

I let out one final angry growl before falling unconscious.

**.:(+):.**

I woke to someone tugging on my shirt sleeve.

I looked into Arashi's eyes and saw he was lying next to me. He let out a happy squeal and I looked around the room and all my nightmares came rushing back.

I shivered and wrapped the blanket around us. Arashi hugged me and bounced around in my lap, keeping occupied with my long hair.

"Mma...annnma," he said with a strangely worried tone and I patted his head trying to reassure him everything was fine.

"Don't worry sweet pea it'll be alright-"

"Yeah _sweet pea_, don't you worry about a thing," my head snapped up to see Kisame entering the room. I wrapped my arms around Arashi and I wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

"Don't you dare take away my baby..."

Kisame smirked and his eyes narrowed in amusement, "Oh? And what could you possibly do about it?"

Narrowing my eyes I ignored the question and instead asked one for myself, "What are you doing here? What do the Akatsuki want from me anyway? Tobi erased my mind, yes he gave some of it back, but if he erased it why would you even need me!"

Kisame shrugged even though I knew all too well that he had full knowledge of the situation, "I'm just here to guard you."

I grit my teeth and my inner fan girl lashed out like Sakura's inner spirit when she was younger. I shoved her down and back into her cage where I locked her up.

Even though I was still on edge I ended up falling asleep with Arashi tight in my arms. When I woke up a second time I was relieved to see Arashi was still there but I jumped when I turned around to see Tobi lying next to me. I jumped out of the bed, still clutching my boy, and backed away as far as I could.

"But Tobi thought sempai liked him!" he joked, "Tobi must not be very attractive..." he said with a pouting tone. I rolled my eyes.

"Fuck you," I hissed out while covering little Arashi ears.

Tobi sighed, "Now, now Molly-chan Arashi-kun is present! Tobi just wanted to spend some time with you before he has to go."

"Why are you here?"

"Tobi's on guard duty, and he's supposed to tell you that you'll be able to go home soon! Very soon, maybe you'll even be able to bring friends, like Arashi-kun, or even Tobi!" he shouted out and threw his hands up into the air in which Arashi giggled and clapped his hands at the show.

"I will not help you with whatever the Akatsuki are planning. I will never help you."

"Oh silly sempai doesn't have a choice," he suddenly appeared in front of me, "Molly-chan doesn't have a choice, or should I even call you that..." he leaned down and whispered my name so quietly into my ear I thought I was hearing things.

My eyes widened but it didn't go unnoticed by him, "Ooh sempai's a bad girl for lying!" he laughed and pranced about the room, Arashi wiggled out of my arms to join him. I tried to stop him but the two were suddenly jumping on the bed and laughing together. I slid down the wall and sat on the floor, Tobi wanted me to join him but I only slapped his hand away.

For a brief moment I thought the scene was somewhat cute, the way the two were, the child and his friend playing together and enjoying themselves. Then I remembered where I was and who was really behind that mask. I frowned deeper and sat with my arms crossed until someone else came in.

Konan came by next and checked for injuries on either of us and I asked her, even if it was a long shot, what the Akatuski really wanted with me.

Konan merely said the same thing as Tobi so my progress was at a standstill for the moment.

The next day Pein came into the room. He looked at me with his Rinnegan eyes and I saw a faint malicious smile adorn his lips. Without a word he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out the door, Konan was behind him and took Arashi by the hand and the two followed behind.

Inside one of the various rooms the four of us all squeezed through the doorway and inside was a single glass cylinder along with colorful wires hooked up it.

Pein broke my thoughts when he began to speak, "In your memories you were shocked in order to get here, now that we've depicted those memories I may have recreated a way to take you back, perhaps with passengers.

I growled and fought to get out of his grasp, he threw me into the cylinder that looked like it was used for test subjects and I banged on the thick plexiglass walls. Arashi, noticing my distress, let go of Konan and ran/waddled to try and help me.

"Ah! Ahna, maahaa!" he yelled out before running to Konan and tugging on her cloak to try and get her to help. A strong and painful shock flew across my body. I fell to my knees when another wave came, it started from the bottom of my feet and from the tips of my fingers and it worked it's way inside, forcing its vibrating shock into my heart.

The next shock made my heart skip a beat and suddenly I found myself alone in darkness.


End file.
